Teachers will be the next millionaires!

I’ve been making this statement for the last decade. But it’s only been in the last few years that I’ve actually seen it becoming a reality. Training-preneurs are all over the internet. They are the people who have seen what technology has done to other industries, as well as what it’s done for individuals. The tools of the internet have changed the world of education/training for ever. The tools mixed with the natural creativity of those born to teach makes for a powerful combination. And that wave of change has only just begun to swell. The next millionaires are on the rise…and they’re selling knowledge.

Who are these Training-preneurs

Training-preneur is an awkward term at best. But it’s the best way to describe in one word those who earn a living by teaching outside the traditional education system. Most often their entrepreneurial instincts see a need. There are small startups. And for the biggest collection of Training-preneurs you need look no further than YouTube.

Many sell their knowledge on blogs and monetize via online advertising platforms such as Udemy. Some do it better than others. And they may not be millionaires, but many are making a good living, or extra fun money at the very least. Teachers are even selling their lesson plans to one another. Many training-preneurs have even stepped up their game with training platforms like CRS Academy to manage their entire training business. The list of ways to make money in education are growing, and I can’t list them all here. Heck, I don’t even know what they all are. Nobody does. But it’s safe to say there are enough options to give everyone a shot at it.

A New Breed of Learning Professionals

Training-preneurs are no different than any other teacher drawn to their career by an inner passion for learning and sharing. This growing population has a natural instinct for both teaching and learning. When they gain new knowledge they are compelled to share it with others. And how that sharing occurs is not restricted by any rules, models, methods, or school systems defining “the right” way to deliver instruction. They simply do what comes natural, build an audience, and deliver on what that audience responds too.

I’ve seen many business models in the education space come and go over the years. Lynda.com is a great example of how just giving the learner/customer what they want actually works. Short high quality videos on highly focused topics. YouTube is no different. It’s everyman’s Lynda.com. No matter how BAD your video is, you can still post it to YouTube and learn from that experience. The hope is that you get better and better with each new video. Most YouTubers that stick with it actually do get pretty darn good. Their delivery improves, the video quality improves, the content improves, and their following grows. And as their audience grows they begin to see financial returns.

Others taking a more traditional business model approach simply see a need and build a business plan around it. My favorite example is Paula Cooper, founder of Dine Aware. The following is a quote from her case study you can read here.

“Dine Aware™ is a new brand with an end goal to change food service perceptions industry-wide and worldwide. Their mission is to teach all employees in the food and beverage industry how to manage and interact with the food allergy and food intolerant public in a way that inspires confidence.”

It’s a brilliant idea. And from personal experience I can assure you her training in this area should be required for all the restaurants in my neighborhood. And if you think certification programs are a wide open market, think about CEUs (Continuing Education Units). Continuing Education training is a massive industry. Most licensed professionals are required to have a certain number of hours in CEUs to keep their credentials current. This of course makes for an amazing opportunity for those willing to put in the work.

The Technology is Amazing!

Technology has created new opportunities in just about every industry. The technology today is powerful, fast, and finally in the mainstream. When you have 82 year old grandmothers becoming famous on YouTube, it’s definitely gone mainstream. And okay so maybe their show is more about entertainment, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be educational. But I’ll save the “what’s learning and what not” conversation for someone else. The reality is that technology is not only amazing but it’s being used on a regular basis by all ages.

The latest trend is livecasting. Live video streaming from mobile devices with apps like Meerkat, and Periscope. And more recently a platform called blab.im has made a HUGE entrance onto the scene. While it’s anyone’s guess as to which companies will win and which will lose, its the basic idea of easy video streaming that is the big winner for everyone.

Even before mobile livecasting there was Google Hangouts, Ustream, and others. Technology is no longer the barrier. It’s even incredibly easy to create a beautiful website faster than ever before. Look at Strikingly.com. So, you can create a web presence with something like strikingly.com. Create and sell courses with ILearnAnything.com, and publish supplemental, or primary, content via YouTube or Vimeo. And promote your efforts on social media to engage your audience of learners.

The Training-preneurs are real. They’re already here and they’re making money. And they aren’t instructional designers or learning gurus. They’re teachers using technology to do what they love. And I think that’s pretty awesome!

How To Evaluate Your Online Training Strategy

Companies devote countless hours and resources into researching, developing, and deploying their online training strategy. However, one of the most important aspects of any online training strategy is to know how to properly evaluate its effectiveness. Is it really working and is it boosting performance enough to justify the investment? Here are 10 tips that can help you evaluate your online training strategy.
[dt_sc_hr_invisible_small]

[dt_sc_blockquote type=”type4″ align=”left”]No online training strategy is complete without evaluation. After all, how can you know that you are getting a sound ROI if the effectiveness of your online training cannot be measured? In this article, I’ll share 10 online training strategy evaluation tips you can use to ensure that your strategy is in-line with the objectives of your eLearning course.[/dt_sc_blockquote]

Companies devote countless hours and resources into researching, developing, and deploying their online training strategy. However, one of the most important aspects of any online training strategy is to know how to properly evaluate its effectiveness. Is it really working and is it boosting performance enough to justify the investment? Here are 10 tips that can help you evaluate your online training strategy.

Assessments.
One of the most powerful tool you have at your disposal is assessments. Quizzes, exams, and tests give you the opportunity to determine if individual employees are actually absorbing information and developing skill sets, or if they are falling behind and need additional help to boost their on-the-job performance. Additionally, assessments let you know if certain aspects of your online training strategy need to be fine-tuned. For example, if the majority of your employees aren’t able to pass a specific assessment, then you may want to take a closer look at the module to see if it’s providing them with the proper information and the online training activities they need to effectively improve their performance.

Course tracking.Course tracking gives corporations the power to view detailed information about a specific employee’s on-the-job performance, training data and other key statistics. Such data can be used to not only gauge the employee’s progress, but also to identify areas of the online training course that may need to be modified. For this reason, it’s important to ensure that your LMS has tracking features that you can use to evaluate your online training course and the individual employee performance as well.

Surveys and polls.Surveys and polls give you invaluable insight into the minds of your employees, which can offer you the opportunity to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current online training strategy. Ask them to complete a survey once they’ve finished the online training event or module to get an accurate sense of what they have acquired, how they feel about the online training experience as a whole, and any other recommendations they have about how you can improve the online training.

Measurable goals.
A boost in both employee performance and business improvement are the key goals of any online training strategy, regardless of the industry or niche. As a result, it’s important to have measurable goals in place that you can track, in order to verify the effectiveness of your online training strategy. What professional behaviors do you want to improve? Are there specific sales goals you want to meet? Do you want to improve customer satisfaction ratings by a certain percentage?

Application of knowledge.
The only way an online training strategy can truly be effective is if the employees are actually applying in practice the knowledge and skills they have learned in the virtual classroom. You can gauge this by carrying out on-the-job performance evaluations and observing employees while they interact with customers and perform specific work tasks.

Employee satisfaction.
While online training may be mandatory, employee satisfaction is a key indicator of the success of your online training strategy. After all, if your employees are not happy with the online training course, then they are less likely to actually participate and get the most out of the whole online training experience. This is why it’s essential to measure employee satisfaction (through polls, interviews, etc) and to determine if they are satisfied with every aspect of the online training. Another benefit of this is improved employee retention.

Focus groups.
Holding focus groups with a diverse range of employees, including managers and employees from different departments, will enable you to collect in depth valuable feedback. You can ask them questions about specific aspects of your online training course that may be ineffective, or get their opinions about your online training strategy, in general.

Performance results and ROI.
To evaluate your online training strategy it’s essential to take a closer look at whether the performance results you are achieving are actually worth the investment. For example, if the goals you’ve set are not being met, you may want to identify the weak areas of the online training strategy to find out what needs to be improved to maximize your resource allocation.

Level of employee support.
Employees need a solid support structure in place in order to get the most of their online training experience. Those who may be falling behind or not achieving performance goals will, ultimately, benefit from additional online training and assistance. An effective way to evaluate your current online training strategy, is to assess the level of support you are offering your employees by identifying individuals who are not meeting their objectives. Then interview them to determine what types of supplemental training may be necessary.

The longevity test.
The online training strategy you have in place will, most likely, have to evolve over time to meet the changing needs of your corporation. However, its basic infrastructure should stand the test of time. Is your strategy cost efficient to maintain in the long run? Is it going to be able to provide your current and future employees with the skills and knowledge they need to fulfill their job roles? When evaluating your online training strategy, it’s essential to look at whether it meets your objectives now and over the course of the next few years, as well.

No matter your industry sector, you can use these online training strategy evaluation tips to determine whether your online training strategy is on the right track or needs a major overhaul.